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California Man Sentenced to 20 Years for Fatal "Swatting" 911 Call

A California man was sentenced to 20 years in prison for placing a 911 call to a Kansas police department that ultimately led to the death of 28-year-old Andrew Finch in December 2017.

April 1, 2019
1 min to read


A California man was sentenced to 20 years in prison for placing a 911 call to a Kansas police department that ultimately led to the death of 28-year-old Andrew Finch in December 2017.

According to the Washington Post, 26-year-old Tyler Rai Barriss placed a call to police saying that he was inside the Finch home with hostages.

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He claimed he had accidentally shot his father in the head during an argument and was now pointing a handgun at his mother and brother.

He reportedly made that call at the behest of another individual who had gotten into a dispute with Finch over an online video game.

Members of the Wichita SWAT team surrounded Finch's home and knocked on his door. Finch—unaware of what was happening—answered the door and was fatally shot by police when an officer thought he saw a weapon in Finch's hand.

Barriss has been accused of making dozens of other "Swatting" calls that did not result in injury.

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